Captain's Blog: Stardate 19 Miles per Gallon

OK, so being the SuperDad that I am, I made a big decision this week. I made this decision after paying $3.25 per gallon for gasoline at the end of last week... I decided to sell my Ford Explorer. This is the same Explorer (my FIRST SUV) that I bought about 6 months ago.

You see, SuperDad has a 60-mile, round-trip commute to work & back and the Explorer was getting an ozone-scorching 19 miles per gallon, on a good day. It was even better once the temperature got so hot here in the Mid-Atlantic that the camels at the Maryland Zoo were going, "Damn, it's hot!" and I had to turn on the old A/C.

Something is wrong with the world when my monthly bill for gasoline is more than my car payment. Don't get me wrong, I loved cruising down I-95 watching my gas guage fall faster than Yahoo! stock. I loved riding high and watching all of the little compacts fly by, knowing that I could squish them with my mighty SUV at a moment's notice.

I simply realized that this is money I should be saving and spending on my family....so....I took it back to CarMax and bought a Honda Accord. I made out pretty well on the deal. My "negative equity" was a whopping $18. I realize now that I missed being so low to the ground. It just FEELS faster, even though I know it's not...and I'm getting 35 mpg. So I never got to drive the Explorer in the snow. There's always the minivan.